Let’s get Ducknuts when talking about the Oregon Ducks in the Championship game, and later a couple of Oregon Ducks in the NFL Draft. You know Marcus Mariota could quite possibly become the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.

However, there are two Oregon Ducks players that should also be sure-fire first rounders that you haven’t heard of.

The Rose Bowl, it’s unbelievably picturesque setting, and New Year’s Day at very late afternoon time remind you of everything that’s special in this world and all that could be sublime. New Year’s Day might the calendar’s most underrated day of the year. (After all it’s the time on the calendar with the most time until New year’s Eve the most overrated and worst on the calendar)

Every year, I get chills as the B-2 Stealth Bomber flies-over the Rose Bowl during the national anthem.

Kirk Herbstreit articulated the transcendent physical beauty that is the setting of the Rose Bowl.

LSU football could return to national prominence in 2015. As Coach Les Miles pointed out in the postgame presser yesterday, the team is very freshmen and sophomore heavy. So they’ll be sophomore and junior heavy next year and figure to be a major power in the always loaded SEC West.

Something seemed off about the LSU defense today. Not to take anything away from Malik Zaire, Everett Golson and the Notre Dame offense, but the Bayou Bengals D just weren’t themselves. LSU came in as 7.5 point favorites, but they couldn’t seem to stop the Irish at all in the first half.

The rumors surrounding LSU Defensive Coordinator John Chavis could be the reason why.

LSU Tigers Freshman tailback Leonard Fournette is the new Melvin Gordon for 2015. Actually, Leonard Fournette is going to be more Leonard Fournette than anyone else, because he is a transcendent running back. The combination he possesses, of speed and power makes him a collegiate runner whose career (if he stayed all four years, which he won’t) could end up on parallel with Ron Dayne.

The U Part 2 is one of the rarest phenomena of modern life- a sequel that lives up to the original. You have to see The U, The U Part 2 and “Pony Exce$$” sort of all at the same time. First you’ll learn all the big picture ideas that you need to know about how college football has developed over the past 40-50 years.

Then you’ll realize that the NCAA model of “amateurism” is even more broke than you could ever imagine. And that’s been broken since the 1970s.

A friend of mine who’s a Chief of Staff to a Chicago Alderman once told me years ago how college bowl games began. Basically, he said the convention and visitor’s bureaus, and chambers of commerce got together and came up with an excuse to sell hotel rooms during a notoriously slow period. During the holidays people travel, but usually only to see other members of their family, not for business.

Hence they stay in private homes with their families, not in hotels. So college football created its postseason, and with it, the bowl system was born. I bring this up today because it explains how college bowl games prediction models are so useless and pointless.

UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley probably could have come out this past draft class, but it’s likely a good thing that he stayed in school. All of the 2014 quarterbacks saw their NFL Draft stock fall during the evaluation process, and if Brett Hundley was indeed behind Teddy Bridgewater on the big board to begin with, then it’s a good thing he came back to Westwood for another year to hone his skills.

The money is still there in 2015, especially since Hundley was rumored to be signing with Jay-Z’s agency. Now Hundley and his fellow Pac 12 signal caller Marcus Mariota headline the ’15 class of QBs.

Jenn Sterger is coming back. Yes, we repeat Jenn Sterger is coming back. After a long absence from public life, she dropped hints on her Instagram that she is coming down to Tallahassee, her alma mater, to reprise her role as the FSU Cowgirl.

Here is the photo Jenn Sterger posted on her Instagram account along with the following caption:

Illinois football deserves so much better than what it currently has. The Fighting Illini were 63-48-4 (.565) during the 1980s. However, they’ve gone just 110-165-2 (.401) since John Mackovic left town to go Coach Texas. Mackovic’s name is critical because he is the most recent Illinois football head coach to leave on his own accord.

Memorial Stadium in Champaign has become a career graveyard for everybody else since (Lou Tepper, Ron Turner, Ron Zook….Tim Beckman???). With this inconvenient truth in mind, Illinois Athletic Director Mike Thomas is going to have a hard sell on candidates with recent head coaching success.

Beyond Ws and Ls, Q Rating is a severe issue for Illini football. As awful as Tim Beckman’s 10-24 (2-23 versus the Power 5) record is on the field…take a second to think about the program’s non-existent brand awareness.

Nationally, the Fighting illini do not even register. In their biggest stronghold (Chicago), Illini football is way down in the pecking order. The next hire needs to win games first and foremost, but he also needs to win hearts and minds- immediately!